On Your Bike reviews the BH Lynx 4.8 29” Carbon FOX

The Spanish evolution

July 31, 2017

Chris Whitfield

As mountain biking evolves, so do the choices facing riders. One such choice – a pretty fundamental one – is the type of bike that best suits your riding.

If you’re a racing snake the choice is pretty simple: something ultra-light with aggressive geometry … the sort of thing that Nino Schurter races on the cross-country circuit or the top Cape Epic riders all use. Managing such bikes on technical sections requires some considerable skill, particularly when you opt for a hardtail, which may be super light but is not very forgiving in the tight and twisty stuff.

At the other end of the scale you are a wannabe Greg Minnaar (or even Greg Minnaar himself) and your weapon of choice will be a downhill bike with huge suspension and very relaxed geometry, so much so that the front wheel seems to be sitting impossibly far out front when you are in the saddle. These are perfect for descending, but are heavy as hell and a nightmare when the trail turns upwards.

Then there are the host of riders who want to have fun on the downhills but want to go uphill as well, if not at quite the same pace as the racing types. The evolution of trail and all-mountain bikes has reflected the increasing popularity of this style of riding (as has the advent of Enduro racing, where riders are timed over short downhill sections and ride at a chilled pace in-between them). Continue reading by clicking here...